DENVER – As with anything happening for the first time, there were bound to be glitches connected to the NBA’s first in-season tournament.
Luckily, the one at Ball Arena was caught before it actually caused any havoc.
Nuggets coach Michael Malone said before Friday’s game that parts of the new in-season tournament court had to be repainted earlier in the day. The three-point arc, apparently wasn’t quite right.
The Mavericks, who had shootaround at the arena Friday morning, took notice.
“This morning’s three-point line was different than it was when we came back this afternoon,” acting coach Sean Sweeney said before the game. “Hopefully, it’s the accurate, correct one now. And if it isn’t, hopefully we make more and it doesn’t matter. I think it’s a little closer now.”
The issue was resolved and the game was played as scheduled with no delays.
Still, it was indicative of just how many moving parts there are when a new venture is taken.
“I was concerned that we had to paint it this morning, that the dimensions were not right,” Malone said. “The dimensions for the three-point line weren’t right.
“But they repainted it. Hopefully, it’s dry and we won’t have blue footprints all over the court.”
Malone emphasized that the NBA is trying to do everything it can to get this inaugural in-season tournament off to a strong start.
The tournament features four group-play games, the first of which was Friday. The teams winning each group, plus two wild-cards, advance to the quarterfinals. The semifinals and finals are in Las Vegas Dec. 7 and 9.
“As Sweeney said with a grin: “Anything that leads to a trip to Las Vegas, bunker mentality.”
But it’s also one of 82 games.
“Just try to make sure we’re prepared as best we can,” Sweeney said. “Denver obviously is a great team, defending champs. The tournament and stakes that go with it are great. But at the end of the day, you’re playing the defending champs on their home court, even though it looks like a Nike ID court. It’s still very, very important for us to come ready to go and play as hard as we can together.”
As for the color-divided court with a wide yellow streak down the middle and blue on either side, it was met with, shall we say, mixed results.
“It’s a good environment,” Kyrie Irving said. “But seeing the court being divided – it’s going to take some getting used to. I don’t think experience helps any team at this point. We’ve hooped everywhere. It’s no excuse. We just got to get used to it.”
Asked if he noticed the problem with the three-point line, he said: “It probably started in shootaround. I did see that they changed the three-point line. I don’t know what they were doing when they were painting the lines.”
Said Luka Doncic: “I don’t know about the court, man, just because the court is the same color as the out of bounds lines. It’s going to take time to get used to it for sure.”
Kidd on the mend: How many times have we heard “next man up” in the NBA, or pretty much any sport?
On Friday, it was next coach up for the Mavericks.
Sweeney served as acting head coach for the game against Denver when Jason Kidd remained behind in Dallas with a non-COVID-19 illness.
Sweeney said he found out that he would be stepping in when Kidd told him after Thursday’s workout that he would not be making the flight to Denver. Sweeney coached four games in the 2021-22 season when Kidd was out.
“A couple years ago when I was fortunate enough to be in this situation, it was a very good learning experience in terms of how the day works and everything that goes into what Jason does with his job,” Sweeney said. “I was very fortunate then and now to have him advising me, telling me things to be ready for and trying to help prepare.
“And ultimately, this is building on what the players have done thus far and what Jason has been coaching and preaching to them. So you try to carry that forward as best you can.”
Briefly: The Mavericks got Kyrie Irving (foot) back in the starting lineup, but were without Maxi Kleber (dislocated right little toe) and Markieff Morris (non-COVID-19 illness) . . . From the in-case-you-missed-it department, after the Bulls limited Luka Dončić to 18 points on Wednesday, Bulls’ coach Billy Donovan said they were determined to make Luka give up the ball. “Yeah, we threw a lot of stuff at him,” he said. “You know, just with the way he has been playing, averaging almost 40 a game. He gets everybody involved. We tried to, as much as we could in specific areas of the floor, trap him. He’s such a great player, with great size, and he generated a lot of shots.” Luka had 10 assists in the game, and a lot more hockey assists where his pass led to the pass that produced the basket . . . The Mavericks have their first back-to-back upcoming with a home game Sunday against Charlotte, followed by a trip to Orlando on Monday.
X: @ESefko
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